Quarter lining inking machine



May 12, 1942.

J. D. HOSSFELD QUARTER LINING INKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 6, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 q MHHAHW l l|lllllllllllll y 1942- J. D. HOSSFELD 2,282,420

QUARTER LINING INKING MACHINE Filed Dec 6, 1959 s Shets-Shee't 2 May 12, 1942. I J. D. HOSSFELD QL IAR'ITER LINING INKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 6, 1939 3 SheetsSheet 3 i atentecl May 12, 1942 i QUARTER LINING INKING MACHINE John D. Hossfeld, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Company, Borough of Fleming-ton, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 6, 1939, Serial No. 307,874

Claims. (01. 91-50) This invention relates to a machine for applying ink to parts of shoes and is herein shown as embodied in a machine for inking the top margin of an unattached quarter lining.

In the more expensive type of shoe where workmanship and appearance are'paramount, it

is desirable to stain the edge of the lining which would otherwise be noticeable when viewing the top edge of the upper of a finished shoe because of the fact that it is generally of a different color. While this can be done with a' than the upper. brush after the shoe is completed, the better way is to apply the stain, hereinafter called ink, to the margin of the lining prior to the assembly so as to avoid soiling the upper and the inner or display surface of the lining. By permitting the ink on the margin to partly penetrate the work, a large portion of the edge surface will be stained, as explained in United States Letters Patent No. 2,160,878, granted June 6, 1939, on an.

application filed in the name of D. La Valle.

machine is provided with an inkcarrying roll and means for feeding the work past the inkcarrying roll with its marginal portion in contact therewith, said means being constructed and arranged simultaneously to bend that portion of the sheet material which is in contact with the surface of the ink roll to stiffen it so that it will bear against the surface and absorb the desired quantity of ink.

In order to permit the work to absorb the proper quantity of ink, it is desirable to hold a substantial length of thev work in contact with the peripheral surface of the ink-carrying roll as it passes through the machine. To this end and in accordance with a further feature of the invention a spring finger is arranged to extend widthwise of the surface of the ink-carrying roll to press the work lightly against the surface of the ink-carrying roll at a point removed from the top thereof so as to cause the work to engage the surface of the roll over a substantial arc.

Another feature of the invention comprises a work gage arranged to engage the edge of the work lying across the ink roll to guide the same, the gage being mounted, however, so that it may work.

be moved away from the surface of the ink roll to permit the passage of an irregularity in the work, such as a strap or button tab, without disturbing the position of the band of ink which is being applied to the margina1 portion of the In some cases, particularly when the edge of the lining is quite regular, it is not necessary to apply a wide band of ink to allow for subsequent trimming, and since a substantial saving may be made by applying a'narrower band of ink, the above-mentioned gage is preferably so constructed as to be movable from a position substantially at the edge of the ink-carrying roll to a position part way across its surface, Whereby only a part of the width of the roll is employed for applying ink.

A machine constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a side elevation, partly broken away and partly in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the scraper for the ink pick-up roll;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation and partly in section;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in side elevation, showing the feed rolls and the inkcarrying roll;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevapartly broken away tion broken away to show the position of the I gage members relative to the ink-carrying roll and the upper feed roll;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the machine broken away in part;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the gage locking mechanism;

Fig. 8 illustrates a band of ink as applied by the machine to the margin of an unattached lining; and

Fig. 9 illustrates gearing which is used to the feed roll of the machine.

The machine of this invention is provided with an ink-carrying roll l0 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4) a pickup roll l2 (Fig. 3) arranged to dip into an ink tray [4 and to lift ink therefrom to the surface of the roll [0, a pair of feed rolls l6 and [8 adapted to feed the work past the surface of the ink-carrying roll ID, a gage 20 arranged to guide drive the edge of the work and a spring finger 22 to guide the top of the work.

Theseelements are illustrated as carried by a frame having a base 24, vertical end walls 26 and 27 and side walls 28, the side walls at the rear of the machine terminating in the end Wall 26 shaft to the bearings.

short of the end of the base. At the front of the machine, however, the side walls 28 extend forwardly beyond the end wall 27. A hollow casting 30 of such dimensions as to enclose the space on the base of the machine back of the wall 26 is pivoted to the base at 3| and is provided with an arm 32 arranged to overhang the forward part of the frame, the arm being held in a horizontalposition by the engagement of surfaces 34 and 36 formed respectively on the under side of the arm and the top of the frame.

It is desirable that the edge of the lining of the shoe top be stained with ink so that it will not contrast with the upper and, since the inkingis done prior to the assembly, the inking of theedge must be done in such away that subse-. quent trimming will not remove the inked edge.

Furthermore, since it is desirable to have the v inner or display surface of the lining of a different color than the upper, the ink must not penetrate through to that surface. The inkcarrying roll I0 is, therefore, provided with a knurled surface 38, the amount of ink carried by the surface 38 being governed by the pick-up roll i2, which will be described hereinafter, so that the quantity of ink applied to the work will be sufficient to provide a uniform distribution of ink substantially through the work but will not be sufiicient to penetrate entirely through so as to show on the display surface of the lining.

The roll I0 is mounted for rotation on one end of a horizontal shaft 40 which is journaled in bearings formed in the vertical walls 25 and 2'1, the other end of the shaft having fixed thereto a gear 42 by which it is driven. Preferably thermoplastic ink is employed and, therefore, the ink-carrying roll in is heated; As illustrated, a shallow recess 44 (Fig. 4) is formed in a lateral face of the roll l0 and a flat heating element 46 is placed therein, the heating element being fixed by means of a collar 48 and set screw 49 to one end of a sleeve 50 encircling the -shaft GB. The of the sleeve passes through the wall other end 21 and constitutes a part of the bearing for the, shaft 40. An electrical connection 52 is made at a suitable point (Fig. 3) for energizing the heating element.

The ink is presented to the surface 'of the inkcarrying roll ID by the pick-up roll l2 mounted for rotation on a shaft 54 with its upper side in tangential contact with the roll Ii] and its lower side dipping beneath the surface .of ink in the tray M. A gear 55 at the rear end of the shaft 54 provides for the rotation thereof.

The ink tray [4 rests on a heating element 55 screwed to the base 24 and may be moved relative to the pick-up r011 by means of screws 58. The tray is of sufiicient length to lie beneath both the pick-up roll and ink-carrying roll, even though their centers are offset laterally, so that it will catch any excessink that might drop from their surfaces.

Scrapers are provided to clear the excess ink from the ink rolls and to govern the quantitytransferred thereby to the work. To this end the ink roll I!) is provided with a'scraper which is mounted on a stud 62 projecting from a plate 6! screwed to the wall 21 and is held in contact with the rear face of the roll H] by a spring 54 (Fig.

1), the purpose of thescraper being to prevent ink from creeping to the heating element. A

similar scraper 65 is provided to prevent ink from creeping over the back surface of the pick- Luproll'and from subsequently traveling along the Another scraper (58 is provided to engage the peripheral face of the pick-up roll 12 at the upcoming side thereof so as to govern the quantity of ink thereon. The scraper 68 is fixed at one end to a sleeve 10 (Fig. 3) mounted for axial movement in a bracket 12 screwed to the frame, the opposite end of the sleeve being provided with a flange 'i l. The sleeve is threaded internally for the reception of a screw 16, the neck of which is journaled in the wall 28 with the head 18 bearing against the outer surface of the wall. Rotation of the screw 15 moves the sleeve in or out, thereby providing for adjustment between the scraper 68 and the roll 12 so that the amount of ink picked up by the roll may be controlled. The scraper 68 is yieldably held in its adjusted position by a coiled spring disposed axially about the neck of the screw 16 between the flange l4 and the inside of the wall 28.

The feed rolls i6 and [8 by which the work is fed to the ink-carrying roll it) are set off to one side thereof. This is preferable to the use of a single feed roll in combination with an ink roll in wringer fashion because there is a tendency in such a case for the film of ink on the ink roll to accumulate at the bite of the rolls as the work passes through due to the squeezing action of the rolls which hold back some of the ink not absorbed, thereby increasing the quantity of ink at that point. This accumulation is frequently such that when the trailing end of the work passes through the bite of the rolls the ink will bridge the gap between the rolls and coat the upper feed roll. As a result, when the next piece of work is fed through, the display surface thereof will be stained. Since, for the reason assigned, it is desirableto have the feed rolls i5 and I8 grip the work inwardly of the portion presented to the ink roll, some provision must be made to cause the work to bear against the ink roll. In

' order, therefore, to cause the projecting margin of the work to bear against the surface of the ink roll, the surfaces of these feed rolls are cut at obtuse and acute angles 82 and 84 respectively (Fig. 4) to the surface of the ink roll so as to tilt the edge of the work downwardly toward the ink roll. As a result the marginal portion of the work is deflected by its contact with the surface of the ink roll. This deflection or bending naturally'stiifens themargin of the work in the direction of its edge and causes it to bear firmly against the roll Ill.

The roll I6 is an idler roll and is mounted on a stud 88 projecting inwardly from' a web 85 and is fixed thereto bya nut 81. The roll 18' is driven and is mounted on a'shaft 88- which is mounted so that it may be moved to and from the roll it to permit introduction of work between-the rolls.

To this'end the'shaft 88 is journaledat 92 and 94 in a bracket 96 having a yoke 91 integral therewith. The yoke is pivotally supported between a pair of'ears fi'and 98 which are integralwith the wall 26. A pair'of studs Mil are threadedthrough the ears 95'and'88. the inner ends of the studs being conical and serving as bearings for supporting the yoke 9i. Anarm 102 depends from the bracket 98 just forward of the yoke, the end of the arm terminatingin a flat bearing surface HM, A bell-crank lever N16 is pivotally mounted in journals I08 extending from the wall 26, one arm of the bell-crank lever being arranged to engage the surface I04 of'the arm I92 and the otherarm having connected thereto a-treadle rod 1 it. by which theleven Hi6 may-be rotated about its fulcrum so as totilt thebracket aboutits pivot points, thereby to separate the roll I8 from the roll IS. The combined weight of the bracket Q and roll I8 is depended upon to hold the rolls in contact during the passage of the work between them. A- gear H2 is keyed to the end of the shaft 88 and meshes with the gear 42 which in turn meshes with a gear I I4 secured to the main shaft I IS. The main shaft is journaled at one end in the wall 26 and has on its free end driving and idler pulleys P and P.

While the feeding rolls direct the work downwardly at an angle to the surface of the ink roll so that the work is bent by contact with the ink roll, thereby imparting a certain amount of stiffness to the marginal portion of the work, it is desirable to increase this somewhat more than can be done by the feed rolls alone and also to cause the work to engage the surface of the inkcarrying roll over a substantial are so as to permit the work to absorb the necessary quantity of ink. To this end a spring finger 22 is attached to the bracket 90 so that it projects widthwise of the ink-carrying roll (Fig. 4). As shown in Fig. 5, this spring finger lies to one side of the top of the ink-carrying roll so that the work fed into the machine will be pressed into contact with the surface of the ink roll between the spring finger and the bite of the feed rolls. The bending produced by the spring finger also has the eifect of stiffening the material and causing it to bear firmly against the ink roll.

In order to provide for the passage of work having an irregularity along its edge, such as a strap or button tab T (Fig. 8), the edge gage 20 is mounted on the end of a spindle II8 so that it may be rotated below the periphery of the inkcarrying roll and thus permit the irregularity to project beyond the inner edge of the roll,

The spindle II8.is journaled at its ends in the walls 26 and 21 and is provided between its ends with an arm I20 to which there is attached a treadle rod I22 by which the spindle may be rotated so as to move the gage 20 downwardly away from the periphery of the ink-carrying roll. The gage 20 is normally maintained in working position by a torsion spring I24 disposed axially of the spindle II8, one end of the spring being fixed to the wall 26 and the other end to the arm I20 so as to urge the spindle in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5.

A saving in the quantity of ink used may be made by applying a narrower band of ink when the lining requires very little trimming. Provision is therefore made to move the gage 20 forwardly over the face of the ink roll I0 so that only a portion of the width of the roll willcontact the work. To this end the spindle H8 is mounted so that it may be moved axially by pushing against the face of the gage 20. An arm I26 (Fig. 7) is fixed to the spindle H8 and the free end of the arm is arranged, when the gage is in working position, to lie between a pair of dowel pins I28 and I30 which project from the rear face of the wall 2'1, the edge of the arm resting against the end of a projecting lug I20. When it is desirable to hold the gage in a position part way across the surface of the ink roll, it is only necessary to push the spindle axially until the arm I26 clears the dowel pin I30 whereupon the spring I24 rotates the spindle so as to bring the arm between the dowel pins I30 and I32. If the endwise pressure is then released, the spring I24 will force the arm to the left, as viewed in Fig. 4, where it will be held between the dowel pins I30 and I32 against the surface of a boss I3I which lies inwardly of the lug I29 sothat the gage 20 will lie partway across the peripheral face of the ink-carrying roll.

The housing 30 at the rear of the machine is locked down by a thumb screw I34 which passes through an aperture in the wall of the housing and is threaded into an ear I35 projecting from the wall 26. To provide a neat looking machine, the front end of the machine is enclosed by a panel I36 pivoted to the end of one of the walls at I38 and arranged to span the open end of the machine.

The drive includes a conventional belt shifter I40 for moving the belt I42 from the loose pulley P to the driving or fixed pulley P. Rotation of the shaft II6 drives the gear II4 which in turn drives the gears 55, 42 and H2 (Fig. 9)

In operation the roll I8 is lifted from the roll I6 sufiiciently to permit the introduction of the work which is pushed along the table S in the direction indicated by the arrow so that its inner edge contacts with the gage 20. The arrangement of the feed rolls produces a semiautomatic feed in that the work will pass through .without close attention. However, when the outline is very irregular the operator must guide the work so as tov follow the outline of the edge, particularly when the edge includes convex curves. When the work' has a strap or button tab projecting from its edge, the operator lowers the gage 20 as the projection passes that point so as to permit the work to pass freely through the machine. If it is desired to apply a narrow band of ink to the marginal portion, the gage 20 may be moved inwardly across the ink-carrying roll and held there so that the edge of the Work can be pushed only part way across the surface of the ink roll.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new'and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for inking the edge of thin material, an ink-carrying roll, and a pair of feeding rolls mounted on axes parallel to the axis of the ink-carrying roll, said rolls having complementary surfaces sloping toward the surface of the ink-carrying roll constructed and arranged to cause the material adjacent to its edge to be deflected by the ink-carrying roll so as to stiffen that portion of the material while it is in contact with the ink-carrying roll.

2. In a machine for inking the edge of thin material, an ink-carrying roll, a member adjacent to a lateral face of the ink-carrying roll, said member having a surface sloping away from the axis of the ink-carrying roll, and a driven feed roll having a surface coacting with the sur face of said member whereby that portion of the work adjacent to its marginal portion is held at an angle to the surface of the ink-carrying roll.

3. In a machine for applying ink to the edge of Work, an ink-carrying roll, means for feeding the marginal portion of the work past the peripheral surface of the ink roll so as to absorb ink therefrom, a gage for engaging the edge of the work, the work-engaging surface of said gage being normal to the peripheral surface of the ink-carrying roll, and means for moving the gage in the plane of its work-engaging surface away from the peripheral surface of the inkcarrying roll.

4. In a machine for applying ink to the edge of work, an ink-carrying roll, means for feeding the marginal portion of the work past the peripheral surface of the ink roll so as to absorb ink therefrom, a gage having a work engaging surface normal to and projecting above the peripheral surface of the ink roll, means to hold the gage in that position, and means to move it below said surface of the ink-carrying roll.

5. In a machine for applying ink to the edge of work, an ink-carrying roll, means for feeding the marginal portion of the work past the peripheral surface of the ink roll so as to absorb ink therefrom, a gage for engaging the edge of the work lying across the ink roll, a spindle rotatably supporting the gage, and means for rotating the spindle to move the gage away from the peripheral surface of the ink roll.

6. In a machine for applying ink to the edge of work, an ink-carrying roll, means for feeding the edge of the work past the ink-carrying roll to cause the material to absorb ink therefrom, a two-position gage movable from a position at the edge of the ink-carrying roll to a position part Way across the surface of the roll, means for holding the gage in the first position, and a spring for urging the gage into the second position, said gage being movable into a position in which the spring operates to move the gage from the first position to the second position.

'7. In a machine for applying ink to the edge of work, an ink-carrying roll, means for feeding the edge of the work past the ink-carrying roll to cause the material to absorb ink therefrom, a two-position gage movable from a position at the edge of the ink-carrying roll to a position part way across the surface of the same, a spindle for supporting the gage, means associated with the spindle constructed and arranged to urge the spindle to move axially and to tend to rotate the same, a lug arranged to prevent axial movement, and a pin to prevent rotational movement, the spindle being movable axially to render the mg, and pin inoperative whereupon said last-named means rotates the spindle into a position in which it moves the same axially to move the gage into the second position.

8. In a machine for inking the edge of thin material, an ink-carrying roll, means adjacent to a lateral face of the ink-carrying roll for feeding the marginal portion of the material past the surface of the ink-carrying roll, said means being constructed and arranged simultaneously to bend the material longitudinally so as to stiffen that portion of the material in contact with the ink-carrying roll, and means disposed 0pposite the peripheral surface of the ink-carrying roll to bend the material transversely of its edge so as to increase the stiffness of the material.

9. In a machine for inking the edge of thin material, an ink-carrying roll, means for feeding the marginal edge of the material past the surface of the ink-carrying roll and for simultaneously bending the material longitudinally so as to stiffen that portion of the material in contact with the ink-carrying roll, and a member arranged to engage the top of the material at a point on the ink-carrying roll removed from the top thereof to cause said material to engage the surface of the roll over a substantial arc thereof.

10. In a machine for inking the edge of thin material, an ink-carrying roll, means for feeding the marginal portion of the material past the surface of the ink-carrying roll and for simultaneously bending the material longitudinally so as to stiffen that portion of the material in contact with the ink-carrying roll, and a spring finger arranged to extend widthwise of the surface of the ink-carrying roll and removed from the top thereof to engage the top of the material and cause the same to engage the surface of the roll over a substantial arc.

JOHN D. H'OSSFELD. 

